


Mi and yu

by Eriskay



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Foreign Language, Japanese, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-15
Updated: 2013-12-15
Packaged: 2018-01-04 18:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1084018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eriskay/pseuds/Eriskay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Blaine is trying to learn basic Japanese writing and Kurt has a minor in foreign languages.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mi and yu

**Author's Note:**

> This one's for all you bilinguals out there!

“For the last time, Santana, dictionaries do  _not_ go in the food section,” Kurt snapped irritably, slamming the stack of Italian-English dictionaries down on the counter.

“Dude, that makes zero sense,” Santana objected, frowning at Kurt. “How are people supposed to navigate tortellini recipes without them?”

“Just put them back in foreign languages,” Kurt sighed, already turning to walk away. “I’m taking a breather, back in a sec.”

“Now wait just a moment, no way am I organizing _your_ stupid section, Hummel, why’d you think you were hired-”

Kurt choose to ignore her, marching to the back of the store and into the staff room. He stopped right in front of the coffee machine (without which he’d never be able to survive a minute of work, bless the darn thing), grabbing a paper cup.

“Another one of those days?” Tina wondered from where she was seated at the table, sipping coffee from her own cup and flipping through a music magazine. “Want me to cover for you a few minutes?”

“No, I’ll only be a moment,” Kurt assured her tiredly, punching the buttons of the coffee machine aggressively. “Sometimes I just wish Santana wasn’t our boss.”

“So you could get her fired?” Tina guessed, her smile wry.

“I was thinking murder, but I’d take firing, I guess,” Kurt muttered, taking a large gulp of his coffee and grimacing as he inevitably burned his tongue. “Do you think there’s any way she could be convinced to, like, _never_ go anywhere near the books again?”

“Bribery,” Tina answered flatly, flipping a page in her magazine. “Don’t try threatening her, there’d just be a whole lot of Lima Heights going down.”

Kurt winced at the thought, quickly taking that option off of his mental list of Santana strategies. He checked the clock on the wall - half an hour left. Then he could finally, _finally_ , walk out the door and hopefully make it for the 12:20 bus towards uni, get back to his quiet, peaceful, _single_ dorm room and completely ignore his five unwritten essays in favour of curling up in bed with lemon-and-vanilla cheesecake and project runway.

Finals were a bitch. If only he was a freshman again.

Then again, he’d never have a single room.

Kurt took another sip from his still hot coffee, setting the cup down and taking a deep breath.

“I’ll be back for that when my shift ends,” he told Tina, waving towards her as he walked back towards the door. “You working afternoon?”

“That I am,” Tina confirmed, returning his wave. “Good luck getting the books back in the right place, please don’t leave too big a mess behind for me to deal with.”

“I’ll try,” Kurt assured her tiredly, stepping back into the store.

Santana was still over by the register, throwing him a sour look as he re-entered. The stack of dictionaries was exactly where he had left them. Kurt sighed, looking around for something else to deal with first - _anything_ , really.

There was a customer loitering around by the foreign languages section. Great. Perfect, even.

Kurt immediately started making his way over, ignoring Santana’s ugly looks.

The customer was a boy, probably in his late teens, wearing a navy blue blazer trimmed in red. He was actually rather attractive, Kurt realized belatedly, eyes in a warm shade of brown and hair slicked back with just a little bit too much gel. Cute. Even borderline adorable.

The boy didn’t seem to notice Kurt making his way over. He was too busy examining the shelf in front of him with the occasional, somewhat fugitive glance out the shop window. He was clutching a messenger bag tightly, his whole posture tense, anxious.

“Hello, there,” Kurt greeted once he reached the boy, reminding himself to try and sound nice and polite, despite his less than terrific day. “Looking for something specific?”

The boy jumped about two feet in the air at his words, turning to give Kurt a bewildered stare. It took his eyes a moment to find Kurt’s nametag with the store logo, yet even after he’d seen it he didn’t seem to relax. Instead, his expression turned rather annoyed.

“Not really,” he replied tensely, throwing yet another glance out through the window. “Unless you have something on the basics of Japanese language, which I highly doubt, given the _extremely_ limited selection here.

Kurt raised an eyebrow, surprised at the superiority in the boy’s tone of voice. On a good day, when he wasn’t in the mode to break things and scream, he’d have been glad to meet a kid interested in Japanese - even a slightly rude one. However, this just wasn’t one of those days.

“You might want to take a look at this shelf,” he informed the boy swiftly, somehow still managing a polite smile as he gestured towards it. “Grammar guides, dictionaries, kanji instruction literature. Anything you need, really.”

The boy did turn to look at the shelf, his gaze flickering over the titles in surprise. Still, his expression was decidedly unimpressed.

“I really don’t need an instruction book,” he told Kurt, sounding impatient. “I’m not trying to actually learn Japanese or anything, I just have this translation project.”

“That’s a bit of an unusual task,” Kurt noted curiously. “Translating is very difficult when you have no previous knowledge of the language. Even if you get a dictionary, the sentence structures and grammar won’t be the same in Japanese as in English. You might understand the words, but not the actual meaning.”

The boy raised his eyebrows at that, like he couldn’t believe what Kurt was saying. It took a moment for Kurt to realize that the boy seemed upset.

“Hey,” he said, his tone much lower, rougher. “You think I don’t  know grammar and word order and things are different for different languages? I’m not some illiterate idiot - I’m fluent in Italian, so.”

Kurt blinked, watching in surprise as the boy raised his chin expectantly. As though he was waiting for Kurt to apologize.

So much for adorable.

Kurt averted his eyes momentarily, looking over the boy’s appearance again with newfound curiosity. The blue blazer had an emblem embroidered on the left side of it, an elegant D. It actually looked a little bit like a school uniform. A decidedly _posh_ school uniform. Posh private school? Rich family, maybe? Expensive car, trust fund? His very own pony?

If this had been another day, a good sort of day, maybe Kurt wouldn’t have.

“Fluent in Italian, huh,” he repeated after a moment, smiling sweetly towards the kid. “Cute.”

The boy’s chin dropped.

“Excuse me?” he spat out indignantly.

Yet Kurt was already turning away from him, pulling out a couple of books.

“I speak Russian, French and Japanese,” he told the kid casually, turning back towards him and shoving the books into his hands. “Your move.”

The boy was still gaping, his expression somewhat similar to a goldfish gasping for breath. It made Kurt smile. There was something inherently funny about overly attractive boys being completely lost for words.

“I think those books could get you started on basic Japanese,” Kurt told the boy, deciding to making use of his continued silence. “Do you have the text you want to translate with you? It would be easier to see what you need if I could take a look at it.”

The boy’s gaze darkened more for every word Kurt spoke, his jaw setting tightly. He glanced out the window again, yet there was nothing fugitive about his glance this time. When he looked back at Kurt, his eyes were cold.

“You’re an asshole,” he announced, his tone suddenly very calm. “Thanks for nothing, I hope you get fired.”

It was Kurt’s turn to gape as he watched the boy carelessly drop the books he was still holding. Then he turned around, marched up to the door and swiftly stepped outside. He even slammed the door shut. So _dramatic._

After a moment, Kurt took a deep breath, slowly making his way back towards the register. He felt almost dazed. This day, _fuck_ , he’d need more coffee. Immediately.

“ _Dude_ ,” Santana said emphatically once he reached the counter. “Kids these days, no manners.”

“You’re one to talk,” Kurt pointed out, managing a wry smile.

“To be fair, Kurt wasn’t very polite, either,” Tina remarked from the entrance to the staff room, where she was leaning on the doorframe. “That boy was a little stuck-up, perhaps, but he’s just a teenager.”

“He didn’t even buy anything,” Santana pointed out with a shrug. “Don’t worry about it, Kurt, we really can’t be expected to play psychotherapeuts with every brat who wanders in here looking for porn magazines.

“What was he looking for, Kurt?” Tina wondered curiously. “An English-Japanese dictionary?”

“Something like that,” Kurt said, feeling confused and so very tired as he glanced over towards the closed door once more. “Although I have no idea why.”

More coffee. _Now_.

 

『あ』 = _a_

Blaine slipped into the classroom just in time, mere moments before the bell rang.

“Where have you been?” David wondered as Blaine slid into the seat next to him. “I haven’t seen you since third period.”

“Went for a walk,” Blaine replied ambiguously, avoiding David’s eyes as he set out his textbooks. “Fresh air.”

David looked entirely unconvinced as he opened his mouth again, presumably to question Blaine further, yet at that moment the teacher called the attention of the class. David reluctantly turned to listen.

Blaine didn’t.

Instead he turned to his left, his eyes finding the student seated across the aisle, one row ahead. A boy with dark hair that looked soft to the touch, thoughtful eyes behind a pair of rectangular Dolce & Gabbana and an ass so fine, Blaine thought it would be a crime _not_ to look.

Shuuji.

The exchange student.

The stupidly attractive exchange student.

It took only a moment before Shuuji turned around slightly to look back, startling Blaine completely. Sure, it had happened before, but Blaine never felt entirely prepared for it. Especially not when Shuuji smiled - oh God, his _smile_ \- nodding in acknowledgement towards Blaine. Blaine flushed, smiling back and giving a small, immensely awkward wave in return. Then he quickly looked forwards again, forcing himself to stare at their teacher.

Maybe Shuuji had heard Blaine come in and wanted to say hi. Maybe he’d somehow felt Blaine looking and felt compelled to look back. Or, maybe, it was all just complete coincidence.

Blaine was never entirely sure.

But he wanted to be.

 

『い』 = _i_

It was a good sort of day.

Kurt had handed in an essay (on time, even) that he actually didn’t think sucked too badly, which was an accomplishment considering that he’d written it entirely in French. It was now 4 pm, he was on his way towards the public library by campus to hopefully get some work done on his project on Russian authors, so that he could have some time left in the evening to hit the dance studio.

He’d made his way inside the library and was headed towards his favourite table when he stopped. There was someone already seated there, an all too familiar teenage boy in a blue blazer.

_Well._

The kid looked decidedly out of place. Despite the library not being an official part of campus, most of the people who came there were university students anyway. The boy looked so young, even compared to the freshmen at the table next to his. There were a couple of books open on his table - dictionaries, judging by how thick they were - yet he wasn’t even looking at them. Instead, he was staring down onto a single page of text on the table, frowning.

Kurt wasn’t sure what the protocol was for re-encountering teenage brats who had called you an asshole. Probably to leave instantly, preferably before the kid would catch sight of him. Yet that didn’t feel right to Kurt, though - it would feel like running away. However, he couldn’t exactly justify trying to talk to the kid, either.

That didn’t mean he didn’t want to.

_Oh, screw it._

『う』 = _u_

“Hello, there.”

Blaine looked up, finding a young man standing by his table. Blaine couldn’t quite place him at first, even though those blue eyes seemed decidedly familiar. The guy was most likely a student, considering that he was carrying notebooks and a cup of coffee to go, but that only made Blaine more confused. From where could he possibly recognize this guy?

The guy shuffled his feet after a moment, smiling tentatively towards Blaine.

And then was when Blaine remembered. _That_ guy.

“Are you stalking me?” he said sharply.

The young man from the bookstore the week before, who was apparently also a fan of libraries, chuckled in response.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he replied with a grin. “I study here every week, you know.”

“Do you ever do anything not involving books?” Blaine wondered, raising an eyebrow.

For some reason that only made the guy grin wider.

“It’s been known to happen,” he replied, his tone amused.

Blaine didn’t respond to that at all. He contemplated asking what the guy wanted. He also contemplated leaving the place as soon as humanly possible. Sure, this store clerk person hadn’t exactly been customer friendly, but Blaine really hadn’t handled it well, either.

... _why_ were they having this conversation, again?

“Anyway,” the guy continued swiftly. “Last week, at the bookstore, I think I was… a bit unhelpful towards you. Sorry about that, I was having a bit of a rough day.”

Blaine blinked. He hadn’t expected that.

“That’s all right,” he answered after a moment, making an effort to sound at least a little bit polite. “I was a bit stressed, too.

 

『え』 = _e_

Well. That was progress. Considerable progress, even.

“So are you still working on Japanese translation?” Kurt wondered tentatively.

“In a way,” the kid confirmed. “I’m trying to learn hiragana.”

“Ah, the phonetic writing system for Japanese,” Kurt said, smiling. “I could help. Like I said, I’m fluent.”

The kid raised his eyebrows at that, as if to ask why Kurt was offering. Kurt was glad he didn’t actually ask. He had no idea what he would have answered.

“Sure,” the kid said eventually, even though it sounded more like a question.

“Can I sit down?”

“Sure,” the kid repeated, shrugging. “Whatever.”

“My name is Kurt,” Kurt told him as he pulled out the chair opposite the kid.

“I know,” the kid told him with an annoyed, obviously practiced eyeroll. “Nametag, remember?”

Okay. Maybe just a little bit of progress.

Kurt spent the next hour going over how to write the first five hiragana, a-i-u-e-o, making sure this kid got the stroke order right from the start. By the end of it, the boy seemed to know them pretty well, but he kept getting i and u mixed up.

“That’s not a big deal,” Kurt reassured him. “You’ll get the hang of it.

The boy gave him a look of utter annoyance. Then he busied himself with writing a long row of elegant  u signs into his notebook.

“I’m usually here on weekdays when I’m not working, which is Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, sometimes Fridays,” he told the kid as he was packing up his things, keeping his tone casual. “Stop by sometime, if you want more help.”

“I might,” the kid said, still scribbling.

 

『お』 = _o_

Blaine wasn’t sure if he should tell someone about Kurt, or not.

Objectively, it seemed advisable. He was meeting an older guy - a _college_ guy - on a semi-regular basis. Not that Blaine was particularly worried. They were studying together in a public library with plenty of people around, which made it tremendously difficult for Kurt to kidnap and murder Blaine.

Telling someone, on the other hand, would have been a disaster. Blaine had tried to imagine telling David, but even in his mind that had failed spectacularly. David would ask questions, and fuss, and then tease, and Blaine wasn’t even sure which one would be worse.

David still noticed, of course. It wasn’t like Blaine usually spent a lot of time away from Dalton.

“I never see you around anymore,” he was complaining as they had lunch in the cafeteria one day. “Why are you so busy?”

“Studying,” Blaine replied, and technically it wasn’t even a lie.

“But where do you go?” David persisted.

“Library,” Blaine returned vaguely, racking his brain for a way to change the subject. “Anyway, why aren’t _you_ studying more? Midterms are next week.”

“Wait, what? Shit. Can you lend me your biology notes?”

“Of course.”

“Great,” David breathed out. “Thanks, man. I’d never understand stem cells without you.”

Blaine smiled.

 

『け』 = _ke_

Kurt was absolutely certain that it would be a horrible idea to tell anyone about tutoring a high schooler in Japanese. Especially not Tina and Santana - God, the questions they would ask.

Maybe if he got them drunk, first.

 

『か』 = _ka_

The kid’s name, Kurt soon learned, was Blaine.

Blaine was self-centered and somewhat short-tempered. He would get annoyed and lash out at least thrice each time they met. Sometimes it was directed at Kurt, when Blaine thought he wasn’t explaining properly. Just as often, however, Blaine would be furious with himself, for not having understood yet.

“It’s really not that hard,” he muttered as he re-wrote the sign for ke for the third time, his pencil practically stabbing the paper. “So why don’t I know this one yet?”

Kurt was intrigued by how Blaine was pushing himself, surprised by his dedication. Yet he was also getting the impression that Blaine was used to praise - heaps and piles of it. When he did get something right, he would look at Kurt expectantly, as though he was waiting for Kurt to sing the beauty of his clumsily drawn ka-sign to the skies.

Kurt would never sugarcoat things. It amused him far too much to see Blaine sulk, instead.

 

『こ』 = _ko_

“You know, I think Blaine’s version of the song is actually better than the original.”

“But it is not in his natural key-”

“How dare you!”

Blaine was trying to listen to the Warbler’s discussion, but it was difficult when he’d heard them go over the matter so many times before with exactly the same outcome. He found himself doodling in the margin of his notebook, instead, practicing some more hiragana. Soon, he would have memorized about half of them.

“How about this,” Wes said loudly, making his voice heard among the general chatter. “We’ll let Blaine choose the songs he wants to sing. That way, he’ll pick something that definitely suits him, and we’ll own regionals.”

There was a murmur of agreement around the room.

“Blaine?” Wes prompted.

Blaine paused his writing, pretending to think for a moment, even though he already knew exactly what he wanted.

“How about we finish with something upbeat that everyone will recognize,” he suggested. “Like Raise Your Glass.”

“Excellent,” David agreed. “And to start with?”

Blaine grinned.

 

『た』 = _ta_

“So why are you learning hiragana, anyway?”

Kurt held his breath and Blaine paused his writing. He had wanted to ask for awhile now, yet Blaine hadn’t exactly opened up about anything else. Today had been good, though, with Blaine snapping considerably less than usually.

After a moment, Blaine reached into his bag, pulling out a sheet of paper.

“I’m trying to learn how to pronounce this,” he explained, handing it to Kurt.

Kurt looked down towards the paper, reading the headline.

「虹」

“Oh, I know this song!” he exclaimed, smiling at the familiar title. “It’s Niji, right? My high school chorus did it for graduation.”

Blaine did a double-take at that, his expression turning slightly less guarded.

“You sing?” he wondered, the indifference in his voice obviously requiring quite a bit of effort. “In Japanese?”

“Used to,” Kurt corrected with a shrug. “I went to high school in Japan.”

“You went to high school in _Japan_ ,” Blaine repeated incredulously. “How?”

Kurt chuckled, amused by the all too obvious interest in Blaine’s voice, now.

“I happened to get a scholarship,” he explained, returning his attention to the sheet of music. “So you're going to sing this?"

“Try to,” Blaine corrected him shortly.

“That would be impressive, considering you don’t know the language.”

Blaine smiled, at that. Sheepishly.

“That’s the idea.”

“Oh,” Kurt exclaimed, smiling himself as he caught on. “There’s someone you’re singing it to, isn’t there?”

Blaine averted his eyes, then, grinning down into the table. His cheeks were lightly flushed. It reminded Kurt of how attractive he’d initially found him.

“His name is Shuuji,” Blaine said quietly.

“Boyfriend?” Kurt wondered curiously.

“No,” Blaine denied quickly, fidgeting a little. “I mean, not yet.”

“You’re trying to win him over, with a song,” Kurt concluded, his smile widening. “That’s sweet.”

“I’m singing it at a chorus competition,” Blaine elaborated, looking excited. “He’ll be in the audience.”

“Oh,” Kurt said, raising an eyebrow. “Wait, so this is like a big event?”

“The whole school should be there,” Blaine confirmed, sounding very proud.

Kurt paused momentarily, unsure of what to say. Kids these days, always making such a big affair of everything. Why couldn’t they just make out?

“There are other ways of asking someone out, you know,” he pointed out slowly, trying to keep his tone tactful. “Less spectacular and more… Personal ways?”

“I want this to be just perfect,” Blaine was saying, seemingly oblivious to Kurt’s words. “Like really, _really_ special.”

Kurt cleared his throat.

“We’d better make sure you can actually pronounce the song, then,” he said, returning his attention to the papers on the table. “That Shuuji must be some guy.”

 

『し』 = _shi_

“You’re a good singer, Blaine.”

Blaine smiled widely, gladly basking in the praise. Shuuji was smiling too. Perhaps partly because he had managed to construct a grammatically correct sentence, for once.

“Our regional competition is in two weeks,” he told Shuuji, speaking slowly, pronouncing as clearly as he could. “The Warblers, you know The Warblers, right? Will you come?”

“Of course,” Shuuji replied. “It would happy.”

Blaine smiled back, taking in Shuuji’s expression carefully. Searching for any trace of unusual enthusiasm. Or affection. Or something, _anything_.

Shuuji looked relaxed and content. He was smiling. Then again, wasn’t he always smiling? He seemed to be. Not that Blaine was complaining - that _smile_.

Blaine smiled back.

 

『つ』 = _tsu_

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Tina wondered abruptly one afternoon.

Kurt looked up at her in surprise, almost dropping the magazines he was carrying. Tina was sitting on the counter, apparently watching him thoughtfully. Santana poked her head out from behind a bookshelf, appearing confused.

“Not that I’m aware,” he replied after a moment, raising an eyebrow.

“You sure?” Tina wondered, looking doubtful. “You’ve been acting weird, lately.”

“Weird, how?”

“You’re never around, you never tell us where you go, you’re always lost in your own thoughts,” Tina supplied immediately, ticking off each item on an imaginary list. “And like, you _smile_ , Kurt. No, not like that, stupider. Like you’re over the moon all the time.”

“True,” Santana agreed with an eager nod. “You’re acting smitten.”

“Well, I’m not,” Kurt denied firmly. “Smitten. Not. You never see me around because I’m busy with school, I’m smiling because schools actually going well. That’s it.”

Tina’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re absolutely certain?” she wondered, her gaze scrutinizing. “I would be forever wounded if you didn’t tell us all the juicy details.”

“There’s nothing to tell, because there’s noone,” Kurt assured her. “Noone at all.”

“Now that that’s settled, can you guys give me a hand over here?” Santana wondered brightly. “I’m reorganizing the history section completely.”

Kurt and Tina exchanged a look of horror.

 

『は』 = _ha_

『ほ』 = _ho_

『ひ』 = _hi_

Blaine sighed impatiently, crossing out yet another ha.

“I keep mixing it up with ho,” he complained, frowning down at the paper. “Seriously, there’s too many hiragana, and they’re too similar.”

It was late in the afternoon, far later than they usually stayed. They’d been going over new hiragana and Blaine had been determined to get them all down, yet that didn’t seem to be happening on this particular day. And Blaine was getting tired.

“How about we try some memory rules,” Kurt suggested, his tone encouraging. “That really helped me when I first started out with Japanese.”

“Memory rules?” Blaine wondered doubtfully.

“Things the hiragana looks like,” Kurt supplied. “Like ha, see that second part of it? That looks a bit like someone who’s fallen over, laughing. Ha, ha, ha. Laughter. Get it?”

Blaine stared down at the page, his eyebrows raised.

“That looks nothing like a person,” he said firmly.

“How about ho, then?” Kurt continued eagerly. “Ho, looks like ha, except for that one extra line. Pretend that it’s still a person, but that extra line is a christmas present. Ho, ho, ho. Santa claus!”

Blaine raised his eyebrows even higher.

“You really thought this was helpful?” he wondered sceptically.

“It’s not perfect likeness, no,” Kurt conceded patiently. “But if you go along with it, you’ll make the right associations, and yes, it _does_ help.”

“Right,” Blaine replied, his tone still very doubtful as he pointed at hi. “How about this one, then?”

“Oh, hi?” Kurt said, grinning. “Well. That one should be completely obvious.”

Blaine looked at the sign, tilting his head, and then looked back up at Kurt.

“It’s not,” he said decisively. “It doesn’t look like anything.”

“Yes it does,” Kurt chuckled. “Come on, it’s really not that difficult.”

“Yes, it _is_.”

Kurt knew Blaine’s agitated tone well, by then. He knew better than to insist again. Instead, he leaned forwards across the table, taking care to speak quietly, too quietly for anyone else to hear.

“It looks like a penis, Blaine. Hi. Pronounced like he. He, penis. Get it?”

He leaned back. Blaine was still staring down at the paper, his expression blank. Kurt waited.

And then Blaine burst out laughing.

Kurt blinked, watching in surprise as Blaine collapsed onto the table, shaking with laughter and attracting more than a few disapproving glances from students at the nearby table. It took Blaine a long moment to compose himself, sitting up straight again and resting his head in his hands. He was still grinning.

It occurred to Kurt, then, that he had never heard Blaine laugh before.

“I’m tired,” Blaine was saying, looking up at Kurt again. “ _Really_ tired, apparently. I think I’m done for today.”

Kurt smiled in return, waiting for Blaine to start packing up his things. Blaine didn’t. Instead, he leaned forwards, giving the paper’s in front of Kurt a curious look.

“What are you doing, anyway? Cramming russian adverbs?”

“Reading a script, actually,” Kurt replied, surprised at the question. “It’s for a school production.”

“You’re in a theatre club?” Blaine guessed, his tone surprised. “I thought it was all grammar, all the time for you.”

“My major is actually musical theatre,” Kurt explained. “Minor in foreign languages. I’m just taking a lot of language classes this year.”

“That’s a strange combination,” Blaine observed curiously. “So what’s the play about?”

“It’s My Fair Lady, actually,” Kurt elaborated, hastily adding, “not that I’m in it. I auditioned, but didn’t get anything.”

“A lot of good candidates?” Blaine guessed, his expression sympathetic.

“Some,” Kurt allowed. “It’s okay. I’m focusing on language this year.”

“I really love that musical, though,” Blaine said eagerly. “I saw a live production, once, which was cool, but the movie is also terrific.”

“They’re showing it at the student union theatre,” Kurt found himself saying. “Tonight, actually. Wanna go?”

Blaine paused at that. He looked surprised. Kurt felt surprised, too. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it should feel weird for him to invite Blaine out for a movie. Their whole studying arrangement was weird to begin with. Yet it didn’t feel that strange. They were friends, right? Sort of?

“Could I do that?” Blaine wondered hesitantly, obviously buying himself time to think. “Not a university student, remember?”

“It’s cool,” Kurt assured him. “Noone ever really goes, so it’s open to everyone.”

Blaine was still quiet. Kurt was starting to feel awkward.

“It was just a thought,” he said, smiling politely towards Blaine. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll find someone else to drag along.”

“No, I’ll go, Blaine said immediately. “It sounds good.”

“Oh,” Kurt exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. “Great.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay."

 

『み』 = _mi_

“Move your bloomin' arse!” Blaine quoted as they were exiting the theatre, his thick accent a flawless likeness. “Oh man, Audrey Hepburn.”

“I _know_!” Kurt gushed, smiling from ear to ear. “She’s an icon.”

“Truly,” Blaine agreed eagerly. “Eliza Dolittle was such a good fit for her.”

“I think I prefer her in Breakfast at Tiffany's, actually,” Kurt replied. “Besides, the true highlight of My Fair Lady is clearly Freddie.”

“Freddy Eynsford-Hill?” Blaine wondered, his tone curious. “You think John Michael King is a better singer than Hepburn?”

“Oh, no, but I much prefer his ass,” Kurt explained with a grin.

Blaine froze.

Kurt stopped too, turning to meet Blaine’s eyes. He was met with an intense stare that he couldn’t make sense of, but he could practically hear the wheels turning in Blaine’s head. Kurt furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Something the matter?” he wondered hesitantly.

It took Blaine a moment to respond.

“No,” he said eventually, shaking his head slowly. “No, sorry. I just didn’t realize you’re gay, too.”

“Oh,” Kurt exclaimed, feeling somewhat relieved. “Well. I usually don’t even have to tell people, what with the musical theatre major and all.”

“To be fair, I only found out about that today,” Blaine pointed out, smiling a little. “And your language studies minor didn’t exactly make me assume anything about your sexual orientation.”

“It didn’t?” Kurt wondered, grinning. “Remind me to tell you _all_ about Russian adverbs, sometime.”

“Why don’t you tell me right now?” Blaine suggested brightly. “There’s a diner up ahead, should we grab something to eat? I’m starving.”

 

『ゆ』 = _yu_

Just after 11 that night, Kurt was watching Blaine’s bus drive away. As he turned around to head back across campus, he found himself pondering over whether or not Blaine would be at the library the next day, and if so what time he would arrive. And how early Kurt could be there...

Kurt stopped abruptly.

_Shit._

『な』 = _na_  


“So, let me get this straight,” Santana said slowly, only slurring a little. “You’ve been meeting up with this kid every day for, like, the past three weeks-”

“More like four days a week,” Kurt corrected Santana, his tone miserable. “Sometimes five?”

“Without _telling_ us, Kurt, how could you!” Tina wailed, reaching for the bottle again - Kurt quickly moved it out of her reach.

They were curled up on Kurt’s couch. On his laptop, Breakfast at Tiffany’s was playing on low volume. None of them were even trying to pretend to watch it anymore.

“And you thought you were, like, just friends, cool beans, no drama,” Santana continued, waving her hand clumsily in what she probably thought was a sophisticated gesture.

“We weren’t even really friends, we were just sort of both _there_ , you know?” Kurt tried to explain, feeling very tired.

“And you didn’t say anything,” Tina sniffed.

“But now, you’re all, like, heads over toes, cloud nine, warm and fuzzy for this dude-”

“Who you didn’t _tell_ us about!”

“And he has this monster crush on some cute Japanese guy,” Santana finished. “Who you have been, like, continuously helping him to try and seduce. Wow, your life sucks.”

“I don’t even know Blaine’s full name,” Kurt sighed bitterly. “Or where he goes to school.”

“Is he a senior?” Santana wondered curiously.

“Don’t know,” Kurt repeated, burying his face into the cushions. “Oh God, what if he’s a first year? What if he’s, like, 16?”

“Does he seem 16?”

“No,” Kurt replied, only to immediately change his mind. “ _Yes._ He’s got all these grand, unspoiled ideas about spectacular love confessions and epic romance. How could I live up to that?”

“How could anyone?” Santana snorted. “He’ll get over himself, when he’s older.”

“Oh, shit, he’s totally 16,” Kurt sighed, feeling completely helpless. “How could I let this happen?”

“Dude, you can’t hijack these things,” Santana told him firmly in a moment of rare, drunken wisdom. “Just go with the flow, it’ll work out, or not. Hey, is that tequila empty yet?”

On the other side of the couch, Tina had fallen asleep.

 

『の』 = _no_  


Blaine entered the bookstore hesitantly.

He hadn’t been sure if he should go at all. Maybe Kurt wasn’t even working today. Maybe there was some other reason for why he wasn’t at the library. After all, Blaine didn’t know that much about Kurt’s life. He could have other things he needed to do this day, people he wanted to see.

Maybe he even had a boyfriend.

As Blaine closed the door behind him, he spotted Kurt immediately. He was standing over by the same shelf where Blaine had first met him, holding a tall stack of books in his arms. His gaze was moving across the shelves in front of him.

Blaine made his way over quietly.

“Want some help with those?” he wondered in lieu of greeting.

Kurt flinched, almost dropping a couple of the books. He tightened his hold on the stack as he turned to stare at Blaine, eyes wide. Blaine shuffled his feet awkwardly, taking in Kurt’s appearance - the older man seemed unusually disheveled. His blue jeans didn’t match very well with his orange shirt and his hair looked messy. His eyes were red.

“No, thanks,” Kurt finally replied, his voice coming out uncharacteristically raspy. “What are you doing here?”

“I found this,” Blaine hurriedly explained, holding out the script for My Fair Lady towards Kurt. “At our table, in the library. You must have forgotten it yesterday.”

Kurt blinked slowly.

“Our table,” he repeated, his expression unreadable.

“Uh, yeah,” Blaine confirmed, wondering why Kurt didn’t just take the script, only to remember that Kurt’s hands were otherwise occupied. “Seriously, let me help you with those-”

“It’s fine,” Kurt stated firmly, his tone almost sharp.

Blaine tried not to flinch.

Kurt set the stack down carefully before turning towards Blaine, finally accepting the script.

“Thanks for stopping by,” he told Blaine, nodding curtly. “You really didn’t have to.”

Blaine wondered if he was only imagining things, or if there was actually a strange undertone in Kurt’s voice. Had he done something wrong? He couldn’t think of what that would be. Things had seemed fine between them the day before.

Maybe coming to visit Kurt at the bookstore had been a step too far.

“No problem, I happened to be in the area,” Blaine lied, trying to shrug casually. “I’ll just… I’ve got to go. Homework.”

He turned around, quickly making his way for the door.

“Blaine, wait.”

Blaine turned around slowly, finding that Kurt had taken two steps after him. Kurt’s expression was still hard to read, but he suddenly looked very tense. Almost frightened.

“Everything okay?” Blaine wondered hesitantly.

“I’ve got a recording of my high school chorus singing Niji that you could have if you think it would help you practice,” Kurt said, speaking so fast that Blaine almost didn’t hear him properly.

“Oh,” Blaine exclaimed, surprised. “Thank you, that’d be great.”

“It’s in my dorm room,” Kurt continued, fidgeting a little.

“I see,” Blaine replied, not quite following.

“We could swing by to pick it up,” Kurt clarified, his eyes searching. “Like, now. Unless you’re busy?”

“Oh,” Blaine exclaimed again. “Aren’t you working?”

“My shift is just ending,” Kurt said quickly.

“Okay, then,” Blaine agreed, nodding before he had even thought about it. “Great.”

As they made their way over to the door, Blaine could see two employees over by the counter watching them. They were whispering to each other excitedly. Blaine tried not to glance at them as he and Kurt exited the store.

 

『ね』 = _ne_  


Kurt’s dorm room turned out to be a short walk away from the library. There wasn’t much in there, except for a bed, a desk and a worn couch. Above the desk were two shelves, packed with textbooks and CDs.

“Could we open a window?” Blaine wondered tentatively as he toed off his sneakers. “There’s an odd smell in here.

 

『に』 = _ni_

_That would be the tequila_ , Kurt thought to himself.

He silently pushed open the window before heading over to his desktop to pick up the CD. Blaine accepted it with a tentative smile, turning it over once before putting it into his backpack. Then  he looked back up at Kurt, his expression hesitant.

Kurt wondered if he wanted to leave. Then again, Blaine had taken off his shoes.

“Sit for a while?” Kurt offered, gesturing towards the couch.

“Sure.”

They sat down. The silence was thick, somehow. Kurt wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t even entirely certain of why he’d brought Blaine here. Blaine, on the other hand, was glancing around himself rapidly. Curiously.

“How old are you?” he suddenly blurted out.

“Twenty,” Kurt replied, watching Blaine’s expression carefully. “I’m a junior.”

“Oh,” Blaine said, his tone casual. “Okay.”

Kurt sighed, disappointed at the lack of reaction.

“How old are _you_?” he wondered, looking away from Blaine, genuinely afraid of the answer.

“Seventeen,” Blaine replied. “I turn eighteen in two months.”

“Really?” Kurt said, knowing his tone sounded obviously hopeful and not even caring as he looked at Blaine. “You’re a third year?”

“Yeah,” Blaine confirmed, looking vaguely confused. “I graduate this spring.”

“Cool,” Kurt breathed out. “That’s great.”

Blaine raised his eyebrows. Kurt cleared his throat.

“When’s your chorus competition?” he wondered, hoping his subject change didn’t seem to hurried.

“Next week,” Blaine replied, smiling a little. “I think I’ll be ready, especially since I can practice with a recording now. Thanks to you.”

“You’ll be great,” Kurt reassured him, smiling in return.

“I really want to be,” Blaine replied earnestly. “It’s Shuuji’s favourite song.”

Kurt’s smile faltered a little.

“He’s going to come, then?” he wondered, trying to sound indifferent.

“He said he would,” Blaine confirmed, grinning sheepishly. “I asked him myself.”

“Maybe he was just being polite,” Kurt suggested, before he could help himself.

Blaine’s brows furrowed.

“I mean, it could be one of those Japanese culture things,” Kurt added quickly. “Like, maybe he never declines invitations. You never know.”

“You don’t think he actually wants to come?” Blaine wondered sharply.

“Oh, that’s not what I meant-” Kurt begun, but Blaine was already getting to his feet. “Blaine, wait.”

“Thanks for the CD, I’ll return it later,” he told Kurt swiftly as he walked over to the door. “I need to go practice.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Kurt protested, getting up himself. “I was just-”

“I thought you were trying to help me,” Blaine interrupted angrily. “That you understood what this could mean to me, Kurt. Apparently I was wrong.”

“No, _you_ don’t understand, I’m-”

“You’re an asshole.”

Kurt fell silent.

“You’ve been cold to me this whole afternoon,” Blaine continued swiftly, his tone low. “And I have no idea what the hell your problem is, and to be honest? Right now, I don’t even care.”

“Is that so,” Kurt replied, his voice quiet.

“I have a competition to prepare for,” Blaine stated resolutely, opening the door. “Why don’t we have this conversation sometime when you’re not acting like a complete idiot.”

He strode out the door. Kurt didn’t try to follow. He didn’t even wince when the door slammed shut.

 

『じ』 = _ji_

“What a drama queen,” Tina remarked, rolling her eyes in annoyance. “And he wouldn’t even let you finish?”

“What would you have told him?” Santana wanted to know, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“I don’t know,” Kurt muttered. “I think I screwed up a little.”

“I think he over-reacted a little,” Tina pointed out firmly. “You’re not the only stupid one here.”

“Great, we’re both stupid,” Kurt sighed.

“Stupid about each other,” Santana chirped in.

“So what’re you going to do?” Tina wondered, ignoring Santana completely.

“No idea,” Kurt admitted, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “Maybe nothing.”

“What, you’re just going to let that Shuuji boy have him?” Santana exclaimed, surprised.

“Maybe,” Kurt said quietly. “I can’t even think right now.”

He shuffled over to the staff room, presumably on the hunt for dangerous amounts of caffeine. Santana tilted her head, her expression thoughtful.

“I’d say it’ll take him no more than three weeks until he’s searching every posh high school within twenty miles for that kid,” she guessed.

“Make that one week,” Tina disagreed, shaking her head slowly. “He really can’t be that daft.”

 

『ま』 = _ma_  


The week before the competition was quickly becoming a bit of a blur for Blaine. In addition to Warbler’s rehearsals (and extra Warbler’s rehearsals), he was practicing on his own for several hours every day. And then there were classes.

The recording Kurt had leant him was really good. Combined with the hiragana he could finally read, he was able to piece the syllables of the song together. He worked tirelessly on his pronunciation, hoping to get it absolutely perfect for the actual performance.

He tried not to let himself think about Kurt. That kind of distraction was the last thing he needed right before a big competition. Still, not thinking about his new friend was proving to be very, very difficult.

Blaine missed Kurt.

In fact, Blaine missed Kurt more than he had thought he would. He missed Kurt’s patient, understanding tone as he explained things, the way his brows furrowed when he was really focused. He missed Kurt’s kind, encouraging smiles, missed his bad hiragana jokes and stupid advice.

He missed _Kurt_.

When David made his way over to Blaine right before the concert, leaning in close to whisper “he’s here, he came,” Blaine couldn’t believe it. Together they hurried over to the curtain, peeking through a small gap between the fabric and the wall.

There, in the very first row, sat Shuuji.

“Great, right?” David said, beaming. “Don’t think I haven’t seen the looks you give him.”

“Yeah,” Blaine replied, feeling strangely disappointed. “Great.”

David was still grinning brightly.

“You really don’t need to be nervous” he said, taking a steadying hold of Blaine’s shoulder. “We’re gonna go out there and kill this thing, all right?”

“Right,” Blaine said, his voice firmer as he let go of the curtain without another glance at Shuuji. “Let’s do this.”

Later that evening, after they’d given their all yet still not been good enough, Blaine wouldn’t even be thinking about the competition anymore. His mind would be otherwise engaged, reeling from completely unrelated realizations.

Could he really have been so utterly blind?

 

『て』 = _te_  


It took Kurt one week and two days before he cracked.

“I need to talk to him,” he whined, not even pretending to try to work as he slumped against the counter by the register. “But he’s never at the library anymore and he hasn’t come here and I just don’t know how to find him.”

“Ha, you owe me ten bucks,” Tina exclaimed, grinning towards Santana.

“No fair, you said one week, it’s been longer!”

Tina ignored her in favour of turning back towards Kurt. “Can you find his school?”

“Probably not,” Kurt sighed. “I mean, the only thing I know about it is that it has a uniform.”

“Oh yeah, the blazer,” Tina recalled. “There was something vaguely familiar about it, though. Maybe it’s a famous school?”

“I’ve never seen it before,” Kurt said glumly.

“I think Tina might be right,” Santana disagreed. “It did look familiar. There was a D on that blazer, wasn’t there?”

“Wait, a D?” Tina said, her tone completely different as she looked at Santana. “You don’t think…?”

Santana looked confused for a moment. Then her eyes widened.

“Those overdressed showmonkeys!” she gasped.

“You can’t call them that just because they beat us in high school,” Tina told her firmly.

“Wait, what?” Kurt said, feeling incredibly confused.

“Just give me a second, let me I’ll youtube this,” Tina reassured him, already reaching for her phone. “We think we know where your boy goes to school.

 

『す』 = _su_

Kurt wasn’t sure where he could park his car. The school looked just as posh as he had suspected it would be. It wouldn’t surprise him if he needed an official parking permit anywhere within two blocks of the place. He eventually left his car along the road, hoping he wouldn’t be too long.

As he entered the building, he tried to look like he was supposed to be there, to walk like he owned the place. Despite those efforts, he attracted some odd glances from the students in the hallways. Still, he was glad that he hadn’t tried to throw together anything resembling a uniform. That might have worked a couple of years ago, but there was no way he’d pass for a high schooler now.

At least all the kids were most definitely wearing the same uniform as Blaine had been - he was in the right place.

Now where could Blaine be?

Kurt walked down a couple of hallways, peering into empty classrooms and thinking quickly. The place was big. He probably wasn’t going to just stumble into Blaine anywhere. Sighing, he turned towards one of the students walking by.

“Excuse me?” he begun politely. “Do you by any chance know a Blaine? He’s, uh, in the school chorus.”

“Blaine,” the guy repeated, his expression turning somewhat suspicious as he took in Kurt’s obviously out-of-place appearance. “Do you know him?”

“Yes,” Kurt admitted, yet that alone didn’t seem to reassure this guy. “I’m his Japanese tutor.”

“Blaine has a Japanese tutor?” the guy wondered, speaking slowly. “That makes so much _sense_.”

“It does?” Kurt wondered, trying not to sound too surprised.

“Well yeah, what with Shuuji and all,” the guy shrugged.

“Right,” Kurt managed.

“Anyway, Blaine’s not here,” the guy continued. “He went with Shuuji.”

“Do you know where I can find him?” Kurt wondered eagerly. “It’s really important.”

“Oh,” the guy said, suddenly looking a bit apologetic. “It might be a bit too late, today.”

“Too late?” Kurt repeated.

“They left just now, to go to the airport,” the guy explained. “See, Shuuji’s returning to Japan.”

“And Blaine went with him?” Kurt wondered incredulously. “Really?”

“They’ll still be at the airport, though,” the guy pointed out, checking his watch. “I mean, the plane hasn’t left yet.”

“Right,” Kurt said, his head spinning. “Right. I’ve got to go."

 

『よ』 = _yo_

“And you’re sure you’ve got everything?” Blaine asked for what had to be the fifth time.

“Yes,” Shuuji confirmed, smiling widely. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem,” Blaine reassured him, smiling back. “Okay, I’ll go check which gate.”

He headed over across the hall, peering up at the blinking displays showing flight departure times. The plane for Osaka International Airport wasn’t leaving until two hours later. Plenty of time.

Just as Blaine pulled out his phone to note down the gate and terminal, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around, suddenly finding himself face to face with Kurt. It took all of Blaine’s composure not to squeak.

“Hey,” he said instead, albeit somewhat breathlessly.

Kurt seemed out of breath too. Like he had been running. Maybe he actually had.

“I came here to call you an idiot,” he said, his gaze intent on Blaine. “But on the way I realized that I’m more stupid.”

“How charming,” Blaine remarked, raising an eyebrow.

Kurt actually smiled, then. Blaine had missed that smile.

“I sort of thought for a while that you’re going to go with Shuuji to Japan,” Kurt continued, still smiling. “And then I realized that would be insane.”

“Of course I’m not going to Japan!” Blaine said sharply, his eyes widening. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

“One of your friends, long story,” Kurt chuckled. “You’re seeing him off, though, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” Blaine confirmed, nodding. “He’s got a lot of bags.”

“Did he like the song?” Kurt wondered tentatively.

“I suppose,” Blaine said, shrugging. “He was pretty impressed that I learned hiragana and all.

“Are you sad, that he’s leaving?” Kurt continued, his gaze flickering across Blaine’s expression.

“I suppose,” Blaine repeated calmly. “I mean, he’s nice.”

“You don’t sound terribly heartbroken,” Kurt observed, his smile widening slightly.

“I suppose,” Blaine repeated yet again, wondering how much he dared read into that expression. “Listen, Kurt, I’m sorry about what I said last time, and-”

“I really like you,” Kurt interrupted.

Blaine blinked. Kurt shuffled his feet.

“I know you have a thing for grande confessions, and all that,” he continued, looking a bit like he was considering making a run for it. “I would have belted out a ballad, but I couldn’t book an orchestra at such short notice.”

“I really, _really_ don’t mind,” Blaine assured him hurriedly, taking a step closer, clenching and unclenching his fists, feeling very uncertain what to do with his hands at all. “This is fine, simple is great. You… You’re great, Kurt.”

Kurt’s smile softened, yet he also arched an eyebrow.

“Great, huh,” he mused, tilting his head. “You don’t sound too enthusiastic, darling.”

“Shut up,” Blaine muttered, abruptly reaching forwards and to take Kurt’s hand. “You’re obnoxious.”

“You’re a brat,” Kurt countered, yet he was squeezing Blaine’s hand tightly. “Do you want to get out of here? I have my car.”

“Not quite yet,” Blaine said, his tone apologetic. “I really have to help Shuuji get to his flight. I promised.”

“No problem,” Kurt assured him. “Hey, can I meet him?”

 

『ん』 = _n_

Shuuji was surprised, to say the least, when Blaine returned not only with the gate information, but also with another American. They were holding hands.

“Shuuji, this is Kurt,” Blaine told Shuuji with a smile. “Happened to run into him. He’s my, uh…”

“Japanese tutor,” Kurt filled in, surprising Shuuji with his fluent Japanese. “It’s very nice to make your acquaintance.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Shuuji replied even though he was feeling a little confused. “Are you taking a flight, today?”

“No, just meeting someone,” Kurt explained, smiling. “Should we get you to your flight?”

The two Americans helped Shuuji lug his three suitcases across the airport, making sure he got checked in properly and went through the right gate. Shuuji really couldn’t thank them enough.

“No problem,” Kurt told him in Japanese. “Have a safe trip!”

When Shuuji was just about to go through the gate, he turned to wave at the two men. Yet they weren’t looking at him. Instead, they were strolling towards the exit, walking very close together. They were still holding hands.

Shuuji wasn’t offended. Instead, he found it interesting. He’d had several tutors in Japan, but his interactions with them had been very, very different.

As he sat down by his gate to wait for boarding, he pulled out his AU smartphone, turning on the wifi to send his last email home from Ohio. Smiling, he begun to write.

_Dear mom and dad,_

_Americans are so strange._

 

『ど』 = _do_

Santana never did stop causing confusion among the various sections of literature in the bookstore. Not even when Blaine was hired to work part-time, personally responsible for the biology section.

“We should just bribe her already,” Kurt whined as they huddled together by the coffee machine, shoulders bumping, hands brushing.

“I think it’s charming,” Blaine disagreed, his smile bashful. “Do you realize how often she misplaces a dictionary into my section? If she didn’t, I’d never get to wander over to foreign languages.”

“Well, Kurt mused,” his lips quirking into a smile in return. “When you put it that way.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm currently studying abroad in Japan, struggling with Japanese grammar and writing and vocab and everything in between, which made me inspired to (procrastinate on my homework...) and write this. When I started I didn't properly know hiragana, and now I do, so I guess you could say that I was technically doing my homework all along. :)


End file.
